Anderson's scoreless streak hits 21

Left-hander continues to excel with heavy sinker

Brett Anderson allowed just two hits over eight innings to extend his scoreless streak to 21 innings.

The A's 6-foot-4 left-hander had a perfect game entering the seventh and battled John Lackey in a scoreless tie before getting relieved by Andrew Bailey in the ninth. Bobby Abreu, who had broken up the perfect game bid with a seventh-inning single, homered off Bailey in the 10th to give the Angels a 1-0 win.

Anderson said he was more focused on winning than achieving a perfect game.

"Obviously, you're aware of it a little bit," Anderson told the San Francisco Chronicle of having a perfect game in the late going. "But in a game like today, you just don't want them to score at that point. It's in the back of your head, but I'm just trying to pitch a scoreless inning."

"Every time, he's been pretty impressive, pretty fun to watch," A's third baseman Adam Kennedy said. "It's fun to hear the guys on the other team tell you he's not fun to hit. That's what's happened Brett's last three times out. He's got that power fastball with a slider that seems to be on the same plane. That's tough for hitters."

Martin to make long-awaited debut: Eight years after signing his first professional contract, J.D. Martin was scheduled to make his Major League debut on Monday as the Nats starter against the Mets.

The Nationals announced on Sunday that they were bringing up Martin, a former supplemental first-round selection, to replaced injured Scott Olsen.

"He's a kid who's had to scratch and claw for everything he got," acting general manager Mike Rizzo told the Washington Post. "He came in here and pitched extremely well in Triple-A, and he deserves an opportunity.

"J.D., he's earned it," Rizzo added. "He deserved it. And we brought this guy in, I gave him my word that, if he performs, he's going to get an opportunity to pitch in the big leagues for us. And he's held up his part of the bargain for me. So I figured I'd have to help out, and I should hold up my end."

Fox gets up-close history lesson at White House: Jake Fox was one of six members of the Chicago Cubs who visited the White House and came away impressed.

"The cool part was all the history," Fox, who joined teammates Micah Hoffpauir, Sam Fuld, Reed Johnson, Carlos Zambrano and Derrek Lee, along with Zambrano's wife, Lee's wife and Lee's 6-year-old daughter, Jada, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"Sitting on furniture and seeing pictures that have been there for 100 years, it's amazing," Fox said. "Here we are, just normal citizens, walking through here and being able to stand in the same place as some of the most important people in history have stood."

Westbrook takes another step on comeback trail: Jake Westbrook, who has been out since June of last season with an injured elbow that necessitated Tommy John surgery, threw 50 pitches off the mound on Sunday.

"It went well. I threw about 20 pitches to hitters," Westbrook told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "My arm felt good, enduring and accurate, so that's another step toward progressing on. I'm probably a little below 90 percent right now, trying to find a way to stay within myself and within my mechanics out of control and having the correct mechanics and not re-aggravating my arm."

Hudson feels relief after outing: Tim Hudson took a giant step forward in his rehab from Tommy John surgery by throwing two innings for the Class A Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans. It was his first game action since the surgery last August, and he threw two hitless innings with a walk and two strikeouts.

"I feel very, very relieved," Hudson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I feel really good. That was an adrenaline rush I hadn't had in a long time. Everything felt good. My arm felt great. It was exciting out there in the first inning. I hadn't been out there in a while. I'm looking forward to my next one."

Lindstrom pleased with elbow's progress: The Marlins got good news on the injury front on Sunday when Matt Lindstrom, who has been on the disabled list since June 24, threw 40 pitches off a mound with no pain. Lindstrom has been sidelined with a sore right elbow.

"The biggest thing right now I was throwing my splitter for strikes and my slider was good ... and to make sure it doesn't impede my delivery and I could throw my fastball on both sides of the plate down, because I know I can throw it up," Lindstrom told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Guerrero's return will include role as DH: Currently on the disabled list with both a strained knee muscle and a strained hamstring, Vladimir Guerrero won't play the field when he returns to the lineup in a couple of weeks. Guerrero suffered the injuries while playing right field.

"He'll be DH'ing when he gets back," Angels manager Mike Scioscia told the Los Angeles Times. "We'll keep him in that role. If he has another setback and gets pushed back another three or four weeks, you're looking at September."

Calf strain keeps Berkman out again: Lance Berkman was on the bench for the third straight game on Sunday after straining his left calf Thursday night against the Dodgers.

"It's been bothering me for a while, to be honest with you," Berkman told the Houston Chronicle. "It's been manageable, but it's as hard as I've run in a while. It doesn't feel great, but hopefully in the morning it will feel better."

Erstad follows suit with hamstring injury: Filling in for Lance Berkman at first base, Darin Erstad aggravated his left hamstring after hitting a single to center field during the eighth inning of Saturday's game. Just as he was about to get to first base, Erstad reached back and grabbed the hamstring, which has been bothering him for more than a week.

"It doesn't feel pretty good," he told the Houston Chronicle. "We'll see. It got it pretty good. I felt good today. I tried to keep it under control and run smooth. It went again. So we'll see how it responds to treatment and go from there."

Halladay prefers to enjoy the moment: With trade rumors surrounding Roy Halladay, the Blue Jays' ace showed why so many teams would love to have him as he shut down Boston in a 3-1 victory on Sunday. Halladay threw his fourth complete game of the season and 44th of his career to improve to 11-3 this season. After the final out, Halladay tipped his cap to the Toronto fans as he left the field.

"You can't worry about the future. You can't think about the future. You have to kind of live in the moment, and that's all I'm trying to do," Halladay told the Toronto Sun of his salute. "It has nothing to do with looking down the road. It's just a matter of the fans were excited, they were cheering, and that's all it was. For me, you take it day to day right now. I know it's a cliché, but for me I think it's especially true."

Murphy to provide relief at first base: With the thought of giving Hank Blalock some rest, Rangers manager Ron Washington has had David Murphy taking some balls at first.

"We're trying to keep our options open," Washington told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "When David lets me know he thinks he's ready to get some game action, I may end up putting David out there and giving Hank the day off or put him at DH."

Lowrie makes return after wrist surgery: After being out for 87 days due to a wrist injury that required surgery on April 21, Jed Lowrie was back in the lineup for the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. Lowrie went 1-for-4 and hit his first home run of the season.

"The more he plays with health, you'll see him get his legs under him a little bit," manager Terry Francona told the Boston Globe. "I thought he did OK. He hasn't played for a while now where he's felt good. This will be fun. When he's healthy, he's a pretty good player. "

Nieve is latest Met headed to DL: The Mets injury list got longer on Sunday when Fernando Nieve had to be carted off the field after straining his right quadriceps muscle in the second inning of his start against Atlanta. Nieve suffered the injury while trying to beat out a chopper.

"It's obviously a string of bad luck," David Wright told the New York Daily News. "I don't know what else there is to say."

Manager Jerry Manuel said the injury will force Nieve to be placed on the disabled list.

Martinez sees a winning attitude: Pedro Martinez says his new teammates in Philadelphia are giving him the idea that winning is all they do around there.

"Since I've been here, I've gotten the feeling we're going to win every day," Martinez told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "The team is so relaxed and confident -- it feels like we're going to win. I've been on teams before that are really confident and feel like they're going to win, and it's a good feeling.

"Everybody here is very respectful. There's a whole bunch of nice guys here, and they're younger than I thought."

Buehrle likes the home cooking: In his last 11 starts at home, Mark Buehrle is 6-1 with a 2.81 ERA, and in the past calendar year, he's 14-1 with a 2.41 ERA over 20 starts.

After pitching 7 1/3 innings in the Sox's 4-3 win over the Orioles on Saturday, with no walks and four strikeouts, White Sox fans gave him an impressive ovation.

"I was kind of surprised," Buehrle told the Chicago Tribune. "As soon as Ozzie [Guillen] came out of the dugout, they started going crazy. I love pitching here, and I love how they support me."

Happ takes advantage of downhill movement: J. A. Happ picked up his seventh win of the year on Sunday, holding the Florida Marlins to five hits in seven innings in a 5-0 Philadelphia victory.

"He has great arm speed, and his ball has a little velocity," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told MLB.com. "The ball gets up on the hitters. Although he's throwing 89 or 90 [mph], the ball sneaks up on them. [Hall of Famer] Jim Palmer was like that. He threw downhill and Happ throws downhill all the time. He's got some movement on his ball."

Fontenot watches average take positive turn: Mike Fontenot had three more hits on Sunday to push his average to .243.

"Personally, to play here, you have to play and put up numbers," Fontenot told MLB.com. "I know when I get in there, I have to produce. That's how baseball is.

"Obviously [in the second half], as a team, we want to pick it up, and personally, I want to play better," Fontenot said. "That's why I'm looking forward to turning the season around and ending on a good note and winning ballgames, win the division, go to the playoffs. That's our goal. That's what we're shooting for."